Cavalry Zero point five
by The Fearsome Anime-Fangirl
Summary: (Pre-Armada) Intended as a prequel to Cavalry, it's also completely applicable as a prequel to Armada in general.
1. A Rocky Start

Disclaimer: If I owned Transformers, this would be on TV instead of here.

* * *

The green Autobot strode through the lobby, confident that he was in the right building. It did, after all, meet all the criteria set forth by the nice 'bot he had asked at the gate of the city. Of course, the nice 'bot had also pointed out that to sign up with the army, he needn't go any farther than the front desk, and he'd passed that already, not even bothering to glance at it for more than a second. Even though he'd come all this way specifically for the reason of joining the Autobot army, the green Autobot figured it could wait a little longer while he found out how much farther he could go before he was stopped. No one had stopped him as he went through the lobby, and no one stopped him as he boarded an elevator. He pressed the button for the second highest floor and stood patiently as the elevator began to move. A few floors up it stopped and an older Autobot got on. As the elevator resumed its upward climb, the older Autobot inspected the younger one, who was doing a very good job of pretending to ignore the elder's stare.

Eventually, the senior of the pair said, "I don't recall ever seeing you around before."

"Well, I've never seen you before, either, so I suppose we're even," the younger replied in a calm and slightly jovial manner.

The elder nodded. "Hmm. Yes. Quite." Silence then settled over the elevator until a few floors later, the elder 'bot departed.

The rest of the elevator ride up was quite uneventful for the green Autobot, and he got to the second highest floor unhindered. He left the elevator and looked about the hall he'd stepped into, finding himself appalled by the apparent lack of security. Looking back on this moment much later, the green Autobot realized that had been quite ridiculous of him, as he was in the headquarters of the Autobot army. At the moment, though, the green Autobot set out down the hall, occasionally looking at the doors on the sides, but finding none that interested him. None, that is, until he came upon a door that was guarded. He approached the door, doing his very best to give off an official, confident, and almost pompous air.

"Out of my way, soldier," the green Autobot ordered, gesturing widely in a manner he thought befitting of an Autobot of the rank he was attempting to imitate.

The guard did not move, but looked at the poseur doubtfully and said, "Why should I?"

"Why, because I ordered you to," the bulky, green 'bot said, sounding as though he'd been asked the dumbest question in the world. "Honestly, you should know better than to question the orders of your superiors!"

The guard, however, was not going to give in that easily and asked, "Why do you want in here?"

"I need to check on it, of course!" the green Autobot said, feigning an air of impatience.

The guard's doubt of the larger 'bot's authority seemed to falter a bit at this, but he continued to ask him questions with, "You know what's in this room?"

"Of course I do!" the bulky transformer replied, doing his best to sound insulted.

"What is it, then?" the guard insisted.

Without missing a beat, the faker replied, "I can't tell you that, it's top secret information!"

The guard fell silent for a moment and the green Autobot inferred from the look on his face that the guard was just as in the dark about what he was guarding as the green Autobot was himself. Finally, the guard said, "Well, I suppose you seem to be oka-"The guard stopped short as a large, ominous shadow fell across the pair. The guard quickly saluted and stammered out, "He-he-hell-llo, s-s-sir!" The green Autobot, however, simply gawked up at the huge mass staring disapprovingly down at him, his guise completely blown. The huge mass took no apparent notice of the quaking guard, but rather seemed to be concentrating its undoubtedly colossal might into glaring angrily at the green 'bot, as though trying to crush him into a small box with his gaze. The green Autobot had the suspicious feeling that it was succeeding in a way. The mass rumbled a bit, and then spoke.

"What are you doing?" it asked, in a thunderous voice quite befitting of its intimidating size.

"Well, sir, I- you see, he-"the guard started to explain, but the huge mass cut him off.

"Not you. Him," it said briefly, staring down at the green Autobot, who was contemplating running, but decided against it on the grounds that the huge mass would probably crush him before he got very far. "Well?" it rumbled.

The green Autobot, although of no small size himself, found himself so thoroughly terrified by the huge mass that he couldn't bring himself to lie to it, and thus ended up meekly saying, "I was trying to get in there," and pointing to the door the guard was in front of.

"And why were you trying to do that?" The huge mass sounded quite agitated, and all the potential dangers of what he had been doing struck the green Autobot like a very large brick.

He couldn't bring himself to look the huge mass if the face as he quietly replied, "I wanted to see what's in there. I was curious to see why it was guarded."

The guard quickly interrupted, I'm so sorry, sir! I almost let him in! I jeopardized our security! I should've-"Once again, the huge mass cut him off.

"You needn't worry about it. He didn't get in, and when you get right down to it, that's all that really matters. Just, try to do better next time," it said, waving one of its arms around a little. Then it glared down upon the green Autobot menacingly and said, "As for you... You come with me. Now." It grabbed firmly a hold of his arm and half-dragged, half-led him away.

Once they were a fair distance way from the guard the huge mass began to introduce itself to its helpless captive. "My name is Beistand," it said. "I'm second-in-command of the Autobot army. It isn't the most pleasant of jobs, but it pays well enough. And there's certainly never a dull moment, even in our own base, it seems."

Rather than replying to this, the green Autobot said, "Quite pulling me!"

"Then keep up, kid!" Beistand ordered.

"How'd you know I'm a kid?" the green Autobot questioned.

"You just told me," the massive second-in-command answered. His captive stopped for a moment, apparently shocked by this. Beistand yanked him forward, and he resumed walking. "I've introduced myself to you, now it's your turn, kid. What's your name?"

Now that the green Autobot knew the huge mass's name, it suddenly became much less terrifying, and he had regained his ability to lie. He promptly did so by saying, "My name's Teaspoon!"

Beistand looked at his captive doubtfully and asked, "Teaspoon?"

The green 'bot nodded solidly and said, "Teaspoon."

"Alright, then..." Beistand said slowly. "Teaspoon..."

The green Autobot stared at Beistand for a moment, but when nothing further was said, he exclaimed, "I can't believe you fell for that! My name's not Teaspoon!"

"Tough luck, kid. I'm gonna call you Teaspoon from now on anyway. However, Teaspoon, I'm going to need your real name so I can fill out the necessary forms."

The green Autobot was silent for a moment, then quietly asked, "Are you going to arrest me?"

"I might, if you don't quite avoiding my questions. This is the 3rd time now I've had to ask what your name is."

By this point, they had reached a door and the green Autobot waited patiently while Beistand fiddled with a code, and when the door opened Beistand gestured him inside into a rather cozy little office. Beistand sat behind a desk and gestured to the younger 'bot to take a seat. He did. The second-in-command leaned over in his chair, resting his elbows on the desk and shot the green 'bot a questioning look, although he didn't say a word. The green Autobot sighed then said, "My name's Scavenger."

"Alright then, where are you from, Teaspoon?"

"Bit Town, it's a really little place near the border."

"Near the border, hmm? I figured as much. You're the right size for someone from that area. Are you a member of the army?"

"No, sir, that's why I came to Autobot City, I wanted to join up with the army."

"You are aware that you could've done that at the front desk, right?"

"Yes, sir, but I wanted to see how far I could get on bluffing."

"Quite frankly, Teaspoon," Beistand said, "I'm glad you did that."

"Did I hear you right, sir?"

"Year, I think you did, Teaspoon."

"I'm confused, sir!" Scavenger said.

"Let me put it to you straight. You're going to become a spy, Teaspoon."

"A spy?" Scavenger asked.

"Yes, a spy. What you did was quite possibly the single most superb bluff I've ever witnessed, and trust me, I've seen some pretty amazing bluffs."

"It couldn't have been THAT good."

"Well, it wasn't, but you still lack training and refinement. What you did, you did on talent and talent alone, and that, THAT is pretty dang impressive." Scavenger didn't say anything to this, but he did seem slightly embarrassed by the unexpected praise. Beistand rose from his chair and said, "Come on, Teaspoon, we need to register you and what not."

"Yes, sir!" Scavenger said eagerly, getting out of his own seat. "I just have one question, sir."

"What is it?"

"What was behind that door, anyway?"

Beistand smiled warmly at the green Autobot as he said, "It was a trap, for any Decepticon spies that might be in the building. This isn't exactly what I was hoping for, but, y'know what? I can't say that I'm not pleased with the results."

* * *

Scavenger felt out of place, a feeling that he terribly despised. He knew that his large, brightly colored frame stuck out like a sore thumb in the academy full of small, intelligent types with dark color schemes quite uncharacteristic of their Autobot allegiance. His new schoolmates seemed very aware of this fact as well, and Scavenger felt like every optic on the entire campus was focused on him and how different he was. Suddenly, a loud voice, disproportional in size to its small owner, called out for everyone to get into a line for a roll call. There was utter chaos for a few seconds, and then everyone settled into a large line. A few quick glances to the left and right confirmed Scavenger's fear that he was the tallest student in the academy. After that, he stubbornly stared forward as a small dark blue and purple 'bot started the roll call. For about the first half of the roll, Scavenger didn't really pay any attention to it, but rather allowed his mind to wander across a great variety of subjects. His thoughts returned to him as the roll call neared where his name should be. The green Autobot listened patiently to the list of names that meant nothing to him and replies until it occurred to him that the name "Scavenger" hadn't been called. A sense of panic flooded all his thoughts, although he stubbornly refused to allow it to gain any physical manifestation, and remained perfectly still. He reviewed everything that had gotten him there in his mind, trying to detect where an error could have possibly been made.

Then the dark blue and purple 'bot called the name "Teaspoon."

Scavenger cursed.

Loudly.

Scavenger had felt that nearly every optic on campus was focused on him before. Now he was fairly certain they all were now. It was all terribly embarrassing. The dark blue and purple 'bot turned to a large, bright yellow one whose entrance Scavenger had not noticed and said, "I believe you have a student, Treadbolt. I fear you may actually be forced to earn your keep for once."

"Oh, goody," Treadbolt said in a very deadpan manner. "Not the best first impression is it?"

"Oh, certainly not!" the smaller of the pair replied.

"Are you sure he's to be my student?"

"For goodness' sake, Treadbolt, look at him! The size, the color scheme, the cursing. What other choices are there?"

"Slaggit, you've got a point. Well, c'mon, uhh... what's your name again?"

"Scavenger," the youth said flatly, apparently unimpressed by the 'bot who was to be teaching him.

"I haven't got a 'Scavenger' on my list," the small 'bot said.

"That's because Beistand's a smart-aleck," Scavenger replied irately.

"I always thought it was very good that our second-in-command has a sense of humor," Treadbolt said.

"Excuse me, sir, but what about the rest of us?" asked one of the other students, Scavenger couldn't tell which one.

"Hmm? Oh, right. You two go away and get acquainted and such. I'll deal with you later, I'm a bit busy right now," the small 'bot idly waved the two oddballs away as he resumed his roll call.

Treadbolt led Scavenger away and asked why he was listed as "Teaspoon" on the roll. Scavenger remained silent, and it was possibly the smartest thing he'd said all week.

* * *

AF: Teaspoon... :D

Scavenger: -.-


	2. First Impression

Disclaimer: The day I own Transformers is the day pigs sprout wings and create the techno-polka music genre. Wouldn't those be some freakin' awesome pigs? I know I'd want one.

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"Hey, Scavenger! Get up! Scavs, Scavs, Scavs, Scavs, Scavs, Scavs!" Scavenger dutifully ignored Annoying Little Autobot. Annoying Little Autobot wasn't really his name, of course, but Scavenger hadn't bothered to learn his name yet. He was fairly certain he never would. He didn't need it for anything, after all. The only reason he was forced to keep the company of Annoying Little Autobot was that if a Decepticon got suspicious and hacked into the Autobot files to find Scavenger, what they'd find would be an entirely fabricated file on a low-ranking Autobot that looked nothing like Scavenger. Well, it was mostly fabricated. A few of the dates were accurate, but that was unimportant. No Decepticon would be able to catch him on those. Scavenger wished that the fabricated file had assigned him to a unit different from that of Annoying Little Autobot. Wishes would do him no good, though. However, growling menacingly was sometimes effective. He tried it. Unfortunately, Annoying Little Autobot persisted. "C'mon, Scavvy!" he said. Scavenger winced. Of all the annoying little nicknames Annoying Little Autobot would come up with, "Scavvy" was the on he loathed the most. "The boss insists that you get up right now! It's real important, Scavvy-Scavs!" Annoying Little Autobot continued. Scavenger winced again and changed his mind. "Scavvy-Scavs" was DEFINITELY most loathed nickname now.

After that crucial decision had been made, Scavenger wondered why Beistand would want him when he'd just gotten off his latest spy mission. Then Scavenger realized that when Annoying Little Autobot had said "the boss" he'd meant his boss, the unit commander, not Scavenger's actual boss, Beistand. After this revelation, Scavenger wondered why "the boss" wanted him. It annoyed him that in order to find out, the green Autobot would have to comply with Annoying Little Autobot's wishes and actually get up. "Let's go, Scavs! They're not going to wait for you forever! It'll make a real bad first impression if you show up too late!" Scavenger wondered if showing up on time with Annoying Little Autobot's dismembered head in his hands would also make for a bad impression, then decided that yes, yes it would, and that he'd been spending far too much time doing spy work, because that had been a very Decepticon-like thought. It should've worried the spy more than it actually did, but his mind was pre-occupied with exactly whom he'd be making a bad first impression on, as he had every intention of showing up late. After all, he could never sleep in on spy missions because the fear of being found out always kept him up, even though as a general rule Decepticons slept as much as possible. Scavenger fond it ironic that in Autobot territory he was the one sleeping as much as possible while everyone else was up bright and early. That is, Scavenger slept as much as possible with Annoying Little Autobot annoying him constantly, much in the way he was now. The green 'bot wished Annoying Little Autobot was less annoying and less stubborn, but wishes never did any good, and growling menacingly had already proven itself to be ineffective in this situation, so the only avenue left to Scavenger was surrender.

He slowly dragged himself out of the recharge berth and resolved to talk to "the boss" about getting a lock on his quarters that Annoying Little Autobot didn't know the combination to. Scavenger doubted that "the boss" would be very keen on that idea, though, as he'd undoubtedly been keeping "the boss" waiting for his presence for quite a while. Scavenger sighed, glad that getting along well with others was not part of his job, then allowed Annoying Little Autobot to lead him to "the boss." There "the boss" smiled at him in a benevolent way that Scavenger's spy experiences taught him to be suspicious of.

"Good morning, Scavenger," "the boss" said pleasantly. The green Autobot merely growled in reply. "Scavenger, this is Orion Pax." "The boss" gestured at the small-ish green and gold Autobot standing next to him.

"You had me dragged out of my nice, comfortable recharge berth to introduce me to the new guy?"

"Oh, he'll be more than just the new guy to you." Scavenger found that to be highly doubtful, bet he allowed "the boss" to continue. "You see, Scavenger, you're going to be training Orion. Showing him the ropes and whatnot."

"I'm sorry, I must be terribly deprived of proper recharging, because I just thought I heard you say that I had to train the new guy."

"No, actually, you heard me right. That's what I said," "the boss" said kindly, the benevolent smile still on his face.

"Well, then you must be terribly deprived of proper recharging. Why can't he do it?" Scavenger asked, pointing at Annoying Little Autobot, who had, as to be expected, not left the scene.

"Oh, I would love to!" Annoying Little Autobot exclaimed, glad to be included in the conversation. "But he said that he wanted you to do it," he added, pointing to "the boss."

"I don't need extra training! I graduated with flying colors!" Orion protested, further complicating the situation.

"Flying colors won't keep a Decepticon from blowing your head off, kid," Scavenger said. "I didn't graduate with flying colors, but I could definitely out-last you in battle, because I have something you lack. Experience."

"Prove it," the small 'bot challenged.

"Alright. Follow me." Next to his personal quarters, the training room was the only room that was of any use to Scavenger, and thus the only room that he ever made a point of knowing exactly where it was. He took a simple melee weapon out of a box and tossed it to Orion, then closed the box.

"Isn't this a bit unfair?" the green and gold 'bot asked, looking at the unarmed spy. Scavenger looked ponderous for a moment, then nodded.

"You're right. This is unfair," he said, getting another melee weapon from the box and tossing it to Orion. "That should be better." Orion looked confused for a while, then exactly what Scavenger was hinting at sunk in. He tossed one of the weapons aside and charged the larger 'bot. Scavenger smirked as he stepped to the side and tripped his attacker. Orion got to his feet only to be knocked down to the floor again by Scavenger ramming into his back. The smaller of the pair rolled over and got to his feet again, this time making sure to keep his optics on his adversary. Scavenger chuckled and asked, "Ready to give up yet?"

"NO!" Orion Pax shouted, obviously insulted.

Scavenger shrugged. "Fine by me, just remember, you don't have anyone to blame for this besides yourself." Orion charged Scavenger, and the large Autobot sidestepped again, however, this time he also grabbed Orion's melee weapon and kicked him in the side, dislodging the weapon from Orion's hands. Orion hit the floor, then rolled over only to find the weapon in his face as Scavenger pinned him down by stepping on the younger transformer's chest. "Give up now?" the victor asked. Orion nodded, and Scavenger helped him to his feet. "You know where you went wrong, kid?"

"Where?"

"You let your anger get the better of you. You have to keep your anger under control if you ever expect to live long enough to retire. You need to think and be aware of your surroundings all the time." Orion was silent. "Got that, kid?"

The green and gold Autobot shrugged and said, "Whatever."

"Whatever? WHATEV- No. Just no. I'm not going to deal with this. I need to recharge, and I'm not going to let the likes of YOU waste my time. I have better things to do, like recharge." Scavenger and Orion Pax glared at each other briefly before the larger 'bot stormed out.

-----

"Beistand?" Scavenger asked, knocking on the door to the second-in-command's office. The door slid open and the very large Autobot gestured Scavenger inside.

"Teaspoon! Come on in, have a seat. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm doing just fine," Scavenger replied, taking a seat in a large chair directly opposite of Beistand's desk. Despite the intimidating size of most of the furnishings, the office had an oddly cozy feel that Scavenger couldn't help but like.

"Just fine, huh? Something on your mind?" Beistand asked, leaning forward.

"Yeah, actually, but how'd you know?"

"You usually tell me that you're doing 'all right,' not 'just fine.' One picks up on stuff like that when one keeps the company of spies. So what is it that's wrong?"

"Well, the unit I'm forced to keep the company of, there's this new guy, and the unit leader, in his infinite wisdom decided that I should baby-sit the kid. The problem is the little punk won't listen to a word I listen to a word I say, and I swear, that idiot's going to get himself slagged, and I'm gonna feel all guilty about it."

"Maybe you should have a bit more faith in him, Teaspoon. He may surprise you."

"Yeah, maybe. Anyway, why'd you call me here? I assume you've got a mission for me."

Beistand chuckled and said, "I see nothing gets past you."

-----

"What? By the Matrix, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Scavenger exclaimed. The Decepticons stared at the spy.

"'By the Matrix?' That's an Autobot curse, mercenary," the leader of the Decepticon unit said, obviously suspicious.

"What? Do you think that Autobots never hire mercs? I probably just picked it up from them," Scavenger said, being careful not to show his nervousness.

"Or you could be an Autobot spying on us," the unit leader stubbornly insisted.

"Or you could be paranoid. I'm no Autobot."

"If you're not an Autobot, then prove it," the Decepticon challenged.

Scavenger raised his rifle, shot the Decepticon, and said, "Proof enough for you?" The Decepticons rushed to surround their fallen leader.

"You killed him!" one of them exclaimed.

"He brought it upon himself," the green Autobot said, stone-faced. The Decepticon gawked.

"You killed him because he called you an Autobot?"

"I have my reasons," the rightly accused spy replied coldly. "In fact, I'm so insulted, I'm not going to do this job for you," he added beginning to walk away.

"What? So that's it? You think you can just walk away from this?"

Scavenger turned to look at the Decepticon and said, "Watch me."

-----

"Teaspoon, what are you doing back so early? Surely you didn't finish already," Beistand said, then he noticed the look on Scavenger's face. "Oh, no, what happened? Come in, have a sweat. You look terrible," the second-in-command added, gesturing the spy into his office. Scavenger complied, taking his regular seat. "What's the matter, Scavenger?"

The green 'bot sighed and said, "Beistand, I messed up. And I killed someone to get out of it."

"Ours or theirs? Oh, no, no, I shouldn't have asked that. That was the wrong thing to ask. The more experienced spies are used to that question, but you, this is your first kill, isn't it?"

Scavenger nodded and said, "He was a Decepticon, by the way."

"Oh, well, that's a relief. Oh, no, I shouldn't have said that! Oh, I'm sorry, Scavenger, it's just that I've been in this business for a long time, and after a while, you just get used to this kind of stuff, and you forget that others aren't. You understand, don't you, Scavenger, I'm not trying to be insensitive, I've just gotten used to it all and you haven't."

"I understand, sir, but, can I have some time off?" the spy asked.

"Of course, Scavenger, take all the time you need. You just come back here when you think you're ready for spy work again, OK?"

"Yes, sir," Scavenger replied, smiling slightly.

Beistand smiled back at him and said, "Good. Now, get out of here, Teaspoon." Scavenger saluted and left. The green 'bot got about halfway down the hall before he slumped against the wall. A very large red, white, and blue Autobot approached and asked him if he was OK. The spy waved him off and muttered. The very large 'bot seemed concerned, but did not press that matter. Instead, he continued down the hall to Beistand's office.

"Magnus, sir! What are you doing here? Not that you're unwelcome, of course, but you're rather unexpected, y'know?"

"Yeah, yeah, but, Beistand, care to tell me why your best spy is out there in what appears to be a most miserable condition?"

"Really? He seemed fine when he left."

"I assure you he's not fine. I just passed him on my way in and he looks terrible. What happened?"

"He made his first big mistake and his first kill," Beistand said pausing.

"All at once?" Magnus asked. The second-in-command nodded. "Mmm, that would do it."

"Yeah, and honestly, Prime, sir, I'm worried about him. I know I probably shouldn't be, I mean, he's done so well so far, but I'm worried that that's exactly what the problem is. He's gotten used to not messing up and now that he has, I'm worried that it's going to affect him more than it should. Am I worrying too much, Magnus?"

"Maybe just a little," the Matrix-bearer said, smiling slightly. "Do you remember your first kill, Beistand?"

"Of course I do, sir. I felt awful about it."

"But you got over it, didn't you?" Magnus asked.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Scavenger will, too. You'll see, Beistand. You just have to have a little faith."

"By the Matrix, I hope you're right, sir," the second-in-command said.

------

Scavenger noted that the entire unit was gone, which meant he had the place completely to himself. This was a good thing, as interacting with anybody was very high on his list of things he didn't want to do. The large, green 'bot flopped down on a couch and stared up at the ceiling. He wasn't sure how long he'd stayed like that, or how long he would've stayed like that if the unit hadn't returned. Not surprisingly, Annoying Little Autobot sticking his head in the spy's face did nothing to brighten his mood.

"What're you doing staring at the ceiling like that?"

"Slag off," Scavenger said crossly.

"That's not a reason at all!" Annoying Little Autobot protested, apparently completely missing the point.

"Maybe it isn't, but I think he means it," Orion Pax said.

"I see you didn't get slagged," Scavenger observed.

"Nope, I didn't. And, honestly, it's thanks to what you told me. I guess you really do know what you're doing."

"Well, what do you know, you really WERE listening, kid."

"Please, call me Orion, well you?"

"Alright. Orion," Scavenger said, smiling a bit despite himself.

"Thanks a bunch," the small green and gold Autobot said, leaving.

Scavenger turned to look at Annoying Little Autobot and asked, "What are YOU staring at?"

"Saying he didn't get slagged's an understatement. He didn't just not get slagged, he killed the guy," Annoying Little Autobot said uncharacteristically uneasy.

------

Random ending, eh?


End file.
